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India Today
2 days ago
- Science
- India Today
Astronomers witness birth of a new solar system for the first time
In a remarkable achievement, international astronomers have, for the first time, observed the very moment planets begin to form around a distant star, offering a direct window into the earliest stages of a solar system's historic discovery, combining the power of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile and the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), represents a leap forward in our understanding of how worlds like our own come to star in question, known as HOPS-315, sits 1,300 light-years away from Earth. It is a 'proto' star, newly formed and swaddled in a dense disk of gas and dust, the very building blocks from which planets emerge. Using JWST's infrared sensitivity, researchers first identified chemical fingerprints of hot, crystalline minerals, notably silicon monoxide (SiO), beginning to solidify within this disc. Follow-up observations with ALMA pinpointed these minerals' location, revealing they were forming close to where our asteroid belt orbits in the Solar System today. These images illustrate how hot gas condenses into solid minerals around the baby star HOPS-315. (Photo: ESO) 'This is the earliest moment of planet formation ever observed outside our Solar System,' said study lead author Professor Melissa McClure of Leiden University, whose results were published today in Professor Merel van 't Hoff of Purdue University likened the findings to 'a picture of the baby Solar System,' adding that HOPS-315 closely resembles what our Sun and planets would have looked like 4.6 billion years now, astronomers have detected fully formed, massive, newborn planets or observed younger protoplanetary discs, but never witnessed the precise moment when small, rocky solids, the first 'seeds' of planets, began to condense and discovery of solidifying SiO minerals, trapped both in gas and crystal form, confirms that planetesimal formation is underway around HOPS-315.'This process has never been seen before anywhere outside our Solar System,' said co-author Professor Edwin Bergin of the University of Michigan. The location of the mineral signals, equivalent to our asteroid belt, further strengthens the connection to our own origins, echoing the materials found in ancient meteorites and asteroids that predate Elizabeth Humphreys, who wasn't involved in the study, called the findings 'a very early stage of planet formation,' and emphasised the unique synergy between JWST and ALMA in revealing such cosmic are excited that with HOPS-315, they now have an unprecedented laboratory for studying the processes that shaped not just our Solar System, but potentially countless worlds across the galaxy.- EndsTrending Reel
Hindustan Times
6 days ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Russian sabotage attacks surged across Europe in 2024
IN AN INTERVIEW on July 21st, Martina Rosenberg, the head of Germany's military counter-intelligence service, warned of a 'sharp increase in cases of espionage and hybrid measures', a reference to sabotage. That came just three days after Britain imposed sanctions on 18 Russian intelligence officers for what it described as 'irresponsible, destructive and destabilising hybrid activity' around the world. A new report by Charlie Edwards and Nate Seidenstein of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), a European think-tank, reveals how Russia's campaign of sabotage and subversion in Europe has escalated sharply since 2022—and why it might have fallen in recent months. The IISS compiled their dataset by combining their own incident monitoring with that of Bart Schuurman of Leiden University, in the Netherlands, and the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED). It captures everything from GPS interference to assassination plots. Each incident is assigned a confidence level, reflecting the murkiness of covert activity. Some events once feared to be sabotage—such as fires in Lithuania and Latvia in 2022-23 and at arms plants in Wales and Germany last year—are excluded because there is no credible link to Russia. Chart1 The number of suspected Russian sabotage operations in Europe almost quadrupled between 2023 and 2024, with more than 30 incidents recorded last year (see chart). These included damage to undersea cables, many in the Baltic Sea, as well as interference with water supply systems in Finland and Germany, and attacks on military equipment across northern and eastern Europe. Russia is increasingly using criminal proxies, rather than regular intelligence officers (who were expelled en masse from European embassies in 2022) to carry out attacks. In July, for example, three men were convicted of setting fire to a Ukraine-linked warehouse in London on behalf of the Wagner group, a Russian mercenary outfit. This 'gig economy' model allows for greater flexibility and deniability. Its use may explain the recent surge in low-tech attacks. Another factor may be Europe's creaking infrastructure. Decades of underinvestment have left vital systems fragile and vulnerable, note Messrs Edwards and Seidenstein. The fact that private companies own and operate much of European infrastructure compounds the problem—about 90% of NATO's military transportation uses civilian assets and more than half of satellite communications come from commercial providers. Those firms often prioritise efficiency over resilience. Sweden is currently investigating the suspected sabotage of over 30 telecommunications towers along its east coast, used by both civilians and the military. Russian-sabotage-attacks-surged-across-Europe-in-2 Perhaps the most surprising finding in the IISS report is that suspected Russian sabotage appears to have declined in the first half of 2025. This could partly be due to a delay in reporting and investigations, but the IISS reckons there are other possible explanations. One is deterrence: after NATO members launched Baltic Sentry, a series of air and naval patrols, incidents in the Baltic Sea dropped off. Another is political: the Kremlin might have chosen to turn down the temperature during talks with America about the war in Ukraine. A third is that Russian spies realised they had gone too far with some operations—such as the alleged placement of exploding packages at logistics hubs belonging to DHL, a shipping company, in Britain, Germany and Poland—and risked provoking a major crisis with NATO. The IISS warns that the pause may be temporary. Russian intelligence services may simply be regrouping their criminal networks and refining tactics. If so, Europe may be in for a renewed offensive sometime soon. 'We are not in war,' noted Admiral Pierre Vandier, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, at the NATO summit earlier this summer, 'but we are not in peace.'
Metro
19-07-2025
- Science
- Metro
Astronomers just casually witnessed the birth of a new solar system
Astronomers have witnessed the creation of a solar system for the first time. Data captured by the ALMA telescope in Chile and the James Webb Space Telescope showed planets forming around a star in the first record of its kind. The findings, detailed in a study published on Wednesday, showed how scientists observed a gaseous plate being formed around a star – the first step in the birth of a new solar system. Professor Melissa McCure from the Leiden University in the Netherlands said: 'For the first time, we have identified the earliest moment when planet formation is initiated around a star other than our Sun.' The new solar system is being formed around a baby or 'proto' star named HOPS-315 located some 1300 light-years from Earth. Scientists believe the unique sighting can paint a picture of how our solar system was formed, as well as help us better understand the planetary formation process. Merel van't Hoff, of Purdue University in the USA, who co-authored the study, said the nascent planetary system resembles what our solar system would have looked like when it was beginning to form. She said: 'This system is one of the best that we know to actually probe some of the processes that happened in our Solar System.' A solar system is formed from solid material within meteorites, which condense and then bind themselves together. More Trending The pieces of matter begin to form tiny planets or 'plantesimals' before they form larger full size planets. The first minerals around HOPS-315 were detected by the James Webb Space Telescope, before the ALMA Telescope was used to identify exactly where they originated. ESO astronomer Elizabeth Humphreys, who manages the European ALMA Programme Manager said she was 'really impressed' with the study. She said: 'It suggests that HOPS-315 can be used to understand how our own Solar System formed. This result highlights the combined strength of JWST and ALMA for exploring protoplanetary discs.' Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: France's new rocket Baguette One to go where no baker has gone before MORE: Felix Baumgartner's chilling last Instagram post moments before he died mid-air MORE: A new world may have been discovered beyond Neptune
Yahoo
18-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Here's how a star beyond Earth's sun could offer a 'picture of the baby solar system'
In an incredible breakthrough, a team of international astronomers have for the first time ever witnessed the birth of a planetary system beyond Earth's sun that could one day resemble our own. The newborn planetary system appears to be emerging 1,300 light-years away around a baby star known as HOPS-315 that resembles a young version of the Earth's own sun. Using data from ground and space telescopes, the researchers were able to pinpoint the moment when the first specks of planet-forming material began to coalesce around the protostar. The finding marks a major milestone in the study of planetary formation and opens a window into the past of our own solar system, the researchers say in a press release from the European Space Observatory. "For the first time, we have identified the earliest moment when planet formation is initiated around a star other than our sun,' lead researcher Melissa McClure, an astronomer at Leiden University in the Netherlands, said in a statement. How do planets form? Our solar system holds clues Stars form when an accumulation of gas and dust collapses because of gravity. Scientists think that generally what follows is the formation of planets, which emerge from the giant, doughnut-shaped disk of gas and dust that circles young stars, known as protoplanetary discs. In our solar system, the first solid material to condense near Earth around the sun is found trapped within ancient meteorites – or rocks from space that survive their trip through Earth's atmosphere. Astronomers can determine the age of these space rocks to calculate when the clock started on the solar system's formation. Because meteorites are packed with crystalline minerals that contain silicon monoxide, they can condense at the extremely high temperatures present in young planetary discs. Over time, these condensed solids bind together in a process that kickstarts planet formation as they gain both size and mass. Jupiter's gravity, often called the "architect" of our solar system, played a critical role in shaping the orbits of other planets and sculpting the disk of gas and dust from which they formed. Webb telescope helps spot planetary formation around HOPS-315 Now, evidence of these hot minerals were found just beginning to solidify in the disc around HOPS-315. The minerals were first identified using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. To trace the origin of the signals, the team turned to the ground-based Atacama Large Millimeter/ submillimeter Array (ALMA), an array of 66 radio telescopes located in the desert of northern Chile. The data from the observatories suggested that the chemical signals were coming from a small region of the disc around the star equivalent to the orbit of the asteroid belt around the Earth's sun, according to the researchers. Findings serve as 'picture of the baby solar system' It's not uncommon for astronomers to see protoplanetary discs containing infant Jupiter-like planets around baby stars like HOPS-315. But scientists have always known that the first solid parts of planets, known as planetesimals, must form much earlier. Merel van 't Hoff, an astronomer at Purdue University who co-authored the research, compares the findings to "a picture of the baby solar system." "We're seeing a system that looks like what our solar system looked like when it was just beginning to form,' van 't Hoff said in a statement. For that reason, the discovery could help astronomers glean more insights into our own cosmic history. It also provides astronomers with new information to study early planet formation that could serve as a model for newborn solar systems across the galaxy. The research was published July 16 in the journal Nature. Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@ This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: New solar system similar to Earth's seen by astronomers Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
17-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Astronomers witness dawn of new solar system for 1st time
Astronomers have witnessed the birth of a solar system beyond our own for the first time. An international team of researchers has been able to pinpoint the exact moment when planets began to form around a star by using data captured by the ALMA telescope in Chile and the James Webb Space Telescope, according to a study published in Nature on Wednesday. MORE: 100 undiscovered galaxies could be orbiting the Milky Way, according to new research The astronomers observed hot minerals just beginning to solidify – the first specks of planet-forming material, the astronomers said. A gaseous disk surrounding the young star is the first stages of the assembly process to form a new planetary system, according to the paper. "For the first time, we have identified the earliest moment when planet formation is initiated around a star other than our Sun," Melissa McClure, a professor at Leiden University in the Netherlands and lead author of the study, said in a statement released by the European Southern Observatory (ESO). Planets and small bodies like those in our solar system likely formed through the mixture of interstellar solids with rocky solids that condense from the hot gases surrounding a young host star, astronomers hypothesize. But the specific process of the solar system's formation remains unclear. In our solar system, the first solid material to condense near Earth's present location orbiting the sun is found trapped within ancient meteorites, according to the ESO. Over time, the newly condensed solids bind together and begin the planet formation process as they gain both size and mass. MORE: Webb telescope discovers stars forming in 'toe beans' of Cat's Paw Nebula Researchers say they found evidence that these hot minerals have begun to condense in the disc surrounding the young star, or protostar, named HOPS-315. "This process has never been seen before in a protoplanetary disc – or anywhere outside our solar system," said Edwin Bergin, an astronomer at the University of Michigan and co-author of the paper, in a statement. The protostar is located in the Orion B molecular cloud, around 1,300 light-years from Earth, according to the paper, and is positioned in a way that allows a direct view of its inner gaseous disk. One light year is approximately 5.9 trillion miles. The view is rare because jets of gas emitted by protostars, known as outflow, often block the view of the disk, the researchers said. MORE: Astronomers spot 'interstellar object' speeding through solar system Astronomers were able to observe solids starting to condense from the cooling gas – known as "time zero" for planet formation – by using infrared and millimeter wavelengths from the ground- and space-based telescopes, the researchers said. The Webb telescope, the most powerful telescope ever launched into space, was used to probe the chemical makeup of the material around the protostar, detecting crystalline silicate materials that are a "telltale sign" of early planet formation, according to the paper. The chemical signals appear to be coming from a small region of the disc around the star that's equivalent to the orbit of the asteroid belt around our own sun, according to the ESO. "This hot mineral is the first feedstock that you have to start growing things in the dark," McClure said. The finding marks the first time a planetary system has been identified at such an early stage. While astronomers have previously seen young discs that contain newborn, massive planets like Jupiter, it was not yet proven that the first solid parts of nascent planets, known as planetesimals, must form further back in time, at earlier stages, McClure said. The discovery opens a window into the past of our own solar system, since the formation of the new system likely mimics the conditions that occurred at the dawn of the planetary system that is home to Earth, astronomers said. "This system is one of the best that we know to actually probe some of the processes that happened in our solar system," said Merel van 't Hoff, an astronomer at Purdue University and co-author of the study, said in a statement released by Nature. Solve the daily Crossword
